CEFC eyes Rosneft stake: report

HONG KONG, August 17, 2017 – Private energy group CEFC China Energy is considering buying a stake in Russia’s Rosneft, international media reported on Thursday.

An investment deal of unspecified value could be announced during a visit of Russian officials to Beijing next month, anonymous sources told Reuters. Neither company commented directly on the information, with representatives stressing that the two firms are co-operating closely and that they had signed a broad co-operation agreement in early August.

“Rosneft does not hold its shares and, therefore, does not sell its shares,” a Rosneft spokesman told Reuters.

The Russian government holds a 50% controlling stake in Rosneft, which is the world’s largest listed oil company by output, with the rest owned by private investors including BP, Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority. A special government decision would be required for the state to decrease further its share in the firm.

Also complicating a deal are Western sanctions imposed on Rosneft following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

“[CEFC] is now engaging lawyers to evaluate thoroughly the legal hurdles sanctions may bring about,” one of the anonymous sources told Reuters.

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